Chapter 4 - Associations Among Family Violence, Bullying, Sexual Harassment, and Teen Dating Violence

Abstract

All too often, children and adolescents are exposed to violence and abuse in multiple settings (e.g., home, school, and communities), which may take the form of sexual abuse, physical assault, maltreatment, and bullying. Research over the years has made a significant contribution to enhancing our understanding of children’s lifetime exposure to emotional and physical violence. Indeed, the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence found a large proportion of children reported experiencing more than one type of direct victimization (64.5%) and about 10.9% reported five or more exposures to different types of victimization. It also well known that children who were exposed to one type of violence are at a significant risk of experiencing other types of violence. Researchers have shown that similar risk and protective factors are associated with different forms of victimization and other type of problem behaviors that youth experience.